Special Delivery?
by smartkid37
Summary: Just another day at the office. Or is it? What is this doing on his desk and who sent it? Who hates him this much?
1. Chapter 1

_Monday Morning 0645_

_June 2010_

With the lingering effects of one too many nights spent wrapped up in loneliness disguised as online gaming, Tim strolls into work, albeit a bit slower than usual. He's really tired of life passing him by, at least on a personal level, defined sharply by the mundane routine that has become his private life. It's a sad truth that has been staring him the face lately and one he's thoroughly fed up with seeing.

He's always wanted to be a dad and by the looks of things that's never going to happen. Maybe it was time to think outside the box. Do something he'd never consider on a normal day; like adoption or mail order bride. He knows it's not unheard of, seeking a relationship this way. He's tried the online dating and goodness knows _that_ didn't work out. After all, the time for normal answers was passing him by.

With a mental shrug, he stowed that private battle back under lock and key, turning his focus onto his work; or rather, onto the pristine whiteness of the envelope currently sitting on his desk, in sharp contrast to the surrounding surface's dark color. He couldn't explain it, but seeing that piece of mail dropped his stomach down to his shoes and froze him in his tracks.

From where he stood now, he could see there was no return address, but there was regular postage on it, as well as the stamp that vetted the envelope as far as mail went these days. Still, Tim couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right about it.

Steeling himself to face it, he traveled the remaining distance to his desk, opened his drawer to remove a latex glove from his spare supply for such emergencies, and put it on. With great trepidation, he picked the envelope up and scrutinized it carefully. Local postmark made the mystery even more of a stomach twister.

But it's the sight of what he'd feared the most, taking up the space across the sealed backside that robbed Tim of his next breath. Big, bold, glossy even, threateningly unmistakable in its' meaning, since he'd never forgotten the first time they'd seen one of these. Except this time, it had his name on it! Over and over, his mind screamed one question.

_Who hated him enough to do this to him?  
_

_*****NCIS******_

Mondays have never been his favorite day of the week and they always leave him in the mood to find an easy target and tease the hell out of them to get both their morning's going. Usually, McGee is the easiest target and the easiest to locate and hang onto as he roasts him over the spit of his odd humor all day.

One look at his probie now, however, has all thoughts of seeking amusing distractions vaporizing into thin air. Tony can't remember the last time this guy looked so petrified. _Scratch that; petrified mixed with anger and disbelief. Yeah, that's what that look was. But why is it on Probie's face? _

"Probie? You all right, man?" Tony questions cautiously as Ziva enters the squad room and drops her gear bag off behind her desk.

"Is something wrong?" She asks as she takes in both Tim's current posture and Tony's rising concern.

"What's with the glove routine, man? What going on?" Tony asks as he walks to join the younger man at his desk. His eyes automatically falling to the now sealed evidence bag containing a white letter. "That what I think it is?"

Tim finally raises his eyes up off the letter and looks Tony straight on. "Yeah. And this one's addressed to me."

*****NCIS******

"ABBY!" Tony's impertinent bark as he and his teammates hurry into the lab, instantly garner the Lab Rat's attention, causing her to turn toward them in worry.

"Tony! What's wrong?"

Holding up the evidence bag with the envelope in it, he replies almost angrily. "THIS is what's wrong! We need you to do your thing; test it, fingerprint it, the works!"

"What? Why? You guys catch a case or something?" She stalls them successfully, not understanding their over-zealous sense of doom with this letter.

"Just do it, Abby!" Tony barks out, completely unaware of the boss' silent entry into the lab at this point.

Without another word, Abby takes the bag from him and rips it open.

"ABBY, NO!" Tim yells at her to stop. "You can't just do that! What if…"

"What if what, McGee?" She asks with open irritation. "Can't a girl just send a friend a letter these days without everyone having a heart attack over it?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Tim demands angrily.

"I already know there's nothing wrong with this letter, McGee. _I_ sent it to you."

"You sent it." Tony echoes with clear anger.

"Yeah, But I don't get what the big deal is. Jeez. Remind me never to try doing something special to lift your spirits up again, McGee!"

Too angry and frustrated at having been put in this position by someone who calls herself his friend, Tim silently turns and leaves the room, leaving a still angry and still confused Ziva behind as they come to the realization that the boss has witnessed this strange situation between them.

Oddly enough, Tony says nothing to the boss as the two exchange silent communication in the form of the Team Leader's raised eyebrows and Tony's return gesture of turning the evidence bag over so the man can see for himself; what the problem is.

With a nod of his head, Gibbs orders his remaining agents to leave the room. Now Abby's looking uncertain and begins to nervously chew on her bottom lip. "Hey, Gibbs." She says quietly. "Good morning."

"Abby." Is all the reply she gets as he chomps down on his fury.

"It's just a friendly "I'm concerned about you' note between friends, Gibbs, that's all. Timmy's been down lately and I thought it would cheer him up. I don't understand the problem!"

"You don't understand the problem." The Team Leader's quiet repetition of her exact words spells trouble but Abby is still confused.

"No, Gibbs, I don't!"

"What were you thinking? "

"Gibbs! I told you! I was jus…"

"Abby, you sent McGee a SWAK!"


	2. And now

_A/N: For the inspiration to take this even further - special thanks goes to Meilea2010 and Emerald.  
_

* * *

Abby frowns as her Fearless Leader turns and walks away. She's in shock so much so that she can't even find the words to tell him she's sorry. She hates it when her silver haired fox is upset with her. But, even worse, is when he's upset with her over something she's done to someone on his team- her three musketeers; her family.

Morosely, she shuffles to her inner office, plopping down in her desk chair, her eyes unfocused and blurry. What _has_ she done? _A SWAK? How in hell could she have ever forgotten, even for a moment, the hell this team went through the last time they had one of those delivered to them? How could she ever forget Tony's own private hell and his near death that had traumatized not only Tony but, herself, and everyone else, too?_

Kate had stayed with Tony through his awful ordeal, even cried on Ducky's shoulder when she'd been convinced at the end that Tony was dying right in front of her. Thankfully, Gibbs had come in at that moment and let it be known that the killer bug had been dead for over an hour and that Tony would be okay. Only Abby knew, thanks to some much needed 'girl time' how badly that whole nightmare had shaken Kate.

Tim, well, it hadn't surprised Abby to have Tim admit to her that he'd been seriously shaken by Tony's close shave with death. Given the way Tony had tried hard to blame Tim for letting him snatch the letter and rip it open, it hadn't been hard to understand at all. Abby, who hadn't witnessed anything beyond the processing of the 'damned letter' after it had done its damage, had been in a better place through it all and thankful that she'd been able to be there for both of her friends.

So how in the hell could she have so ignorantly set Tim up to experience the memories of that nightmare again? Or had it been arrogance that had convinced her that sending Tim a SWAK was the right way to cheer him up? And what about Tony? How could she not realize, by sending Tim that letter at work; that Tony would see it and freak out; with absolute justification? _God, what a mess she's made!_

****NCIS****

By the time Tony and Ziva make it back to the squad room, Tim is already hiding in his own little cyber-space world, typing a thousand words a minute it seems, obviously not wanting to discuss the incident at all. Not that they can blame him. Tony certainly understands. _He_ felt so angry, he thought his insides were gonna explode down in the lab just now. _Thank God, Gibbs showed up when he did!_

Taking their cues from Tim, Ziva and Tony also return to their desks and get started on their day. It's not long before the squad room is comfortably quiet with only the clacking of keyboards to fill the empty space of air. Unusual in itself since the normal routine of jokes and horse playing is missing, the feeling of comfort in the silence fits like a glove and not one of them even notices when Gibbs comes back.

Walking back into his squad room, Gibbs has to stop and look twice at his silent team. Hiding behind his coffee cup, he takes a minute to scrutinize each one in turn; beginning with his Senior Field Agent, who, by all rights, had been angrier than Gibbs has seen him in a long time. Looking at him now, he sees the calm exterior but he also picks up on the underlying tension in the rapid eye movement, downturned as his head is, and the restless foot tapping, right alongside the wandering hand playing with his pen while his other hand hen pecks the keyboard. Satisfied that Tony will hold it together until he's worked through what Abby has done, the Team Leader turns his attention to his youngest team member; the other one to have experienced, at least in part, the horrors of the first incident of this kind.

Tim had never said a word; that Gibbs knew of, to anyone about that time; about what he'd experienced watching his new team nearly lose one of their own to the menace hiding behind that SWAK. But, that didn't mean the kid hadn't been affected. Gibbs knew that and he'd watched him like a hawk; albeit a distant and silent one, to make sure he rebounded well. He also knew that he had Kate to thank for the fact that Tim had done just that.

_Kate._ He'd seen her, in passing, as she'd cried on Ducky's shoulder when she'd been convinced Tony was dying in front of her. He'd heard about her diligently staying with him in that air chamber, had respected the hell out of her for it; but had never, ever thanked her for standing by Tony that way. Then again, it had been understood and he'd known that too. Just like he'd known that she'd commiserated with Abby when it was over and steadfastly stood by Tim as he worked at putting the guilt away that he, himself had incidentally put on him by telling the young man that he should have given the envelope to Gibbs. It hadn't been as if Tony had given the kid a chance to do so, after all.

Which is why, he cannot fathom why Abby would do such a thing as to subject his team to this horrible reminder. He cannot begin to know what seeing that on his desk had to have done to Tim and even Tony. He wishes he'd been up here to possibly have helped calm the situation. Goodness knows Tony probably came close to calling in HAZMAT right away, not that he'd blame him if he had. Obviously it angered them both, once the initial nervousness that sent them flying to Abby for immediate answers, had passed.

He swells with pride for both his boys now; at the way they've shed the situation, at least for the time being, and gotten to work on the day. Looking harder at Tim, he sees the slight shakiness in his hands, the restless movement of his legs as they move around more than usual under the desk and his extra fast typing which always signifies he's upset. Promising to keep an eye on him, the boss lets him have the control he's obviously trying to maintain, taking himself to his own desk and glancing over at Ziva, finally.

She's been strongly supportive of their anger with Abby over this and all he can do is silently applaud her loyalty to the boys. Having not been here for the first nightmarish experience with a SWAK, she's been remarkably quick on the uptake about the stress and hyper-awareness of the boys regarding the receipt of another one. He knows the three of them will work together to shake this and move on. Getting to work going through his own dreaded emails, he refocuses himself; now that he's satisfied his team is fine.

****NCIS*****

She's thought about nothing else all morning and now it's lunchtime. Time to face the music. She can't wait any longer because it's not healthy for this to remain unresolved; for any of them. Just as importantly, she wants her friendships with them to be mended before the rift can grow any more. Riding up to their floor in the elevator she takes deliberate breaths and slowly lets them out, focusing her inner self on remaining calm, despite her growing nervousness. Stepping off the box when it opens on the squad room level, her feet feel like lead. Pushing herself to do this now, before her nerves completely get the best of her, she clears her throat as she crosses the threshold of the squad room.

Gibbs looks up from his work, as does the rest of his team. The only one who remains looking at her, however, is the boss. Abby is stunned that her friends all immediately return their attention to their work, essentially tuning her out. Taking another deep breath and slowly letting it out, she bites the bullet and looks at Gibbs, letting him and the attention he's giving her, hold her up now.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."

The Team Leader nods at her, indicating she should continue. But she doesn't know what else to say when her audience is ignoring her. Finally, after a few heartbeats of silence, he verbally urges her on. "We're listenin', Abby."

Gibbs may be listening and she appreciates that but at the same time, she's doubtful that the others are. This doubt keeps her silent but with a look from the boss that says she needs to get on with it, she tries again. "I never meant to bring back the painful memories from that horrible nightmare, Tony or let you think you were being targeted for something like that, McGee."

Both of the guys stop what they're doing and look over at her now. Tim is the first to speak, getting up out of his chair and coming over to where she's standing, though maintaining his own space without reaching out into hers. "Thank you."

Having said that he glances at the boss and leaves the room. Abby is stunned. _What, no forgiveness? Nothing about moving on and letting this go? No hug or kiss on the cheek?_

Tony is next to get up and approach her. "Think about it, Abby. " He says as if reading her mind. "You scared the hell out of him. Me too. And for what? A game of 'I can't let you love me but I can pretend that I'm the one who can make you feel better?'"

The sarcasm in his voice is unsettling but Abby keeps her eyes on him anyway. "What? What are you talking about, Tony?"

"The letter, Abby. He's had a crappy year; thanks in large, to the crappy way you've been treatin' him. Sending him a letter to cheer him up now; seems like a slap in the face to me. So, maybe it does to him, too?"

Now Abby is shocked. Is Tony right? And what does that have to do with her apology for sending the SWAK?

"Oh, and your apology's accepted, by the way. But next time – just talk to him face to face, hmm?" Tony heads out of the squad room, re-tracing Tim's steps. He knows his surrogate little brother is off somewhere trying to pull his head back on straight, stay focused on work, but that doesn't mean he can't use some back up from his big brother.

Abby looks over at Gibbs and sees that he's been watching the entire incident without commenting. Before she can even object to what she's just been told, he's asking her a question.

"Is he right?"

"No!"

"I would think about that very hard before you believe that, Abby." Ziva speaks up for the very first time as she joins them at Gibbs' desk.

"What? What do you know about this, Ziva?" Abby asks angrily. _There's no way Tony's right. Is there?_

"I have always been very observant." Ziva reminds her.

"Right." Abby turns back to her boss. "Okay, maybe, Gibbs."

"Guess you got some thinkin' to do then." The Team Leader offers as he sits back down and gets back to work, effectively dismissing the subject at hand.

Thinking for a minute, Abby turns back to Ziva. "Let's go to lunch!"

Ziva smiles because she thinks Abby is joking. When the lab rat remains in place, obviously not joking, the field agent straightens her expression into a serious one. "Alright. Lunch." She knows the time spent thinking this through some more can only help their little sister who obviously meant no harm.

Together, the women head out, leaving the Team Leader shaking his head slightly at the idea of those two in cahoots about anything. He hopes this time together will be just what Abby needs to work on the mess she's created.

Now, where are those boys?

*****NCIS*****


End file.
